A search didn't bring anything up so....

As some of y'all know recently ST switched their partnership from Charter to CenturyLink.

Has anyone (preferably those on HI) had any specific experience such that they can compare general QOS (bandwidth, jitter, error rates, etc) since the switch?

Many thanks!

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No I had not heard that, and I do have Silicon Travel. It's still hooked up over my cable lines though.

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In March they replaced the house's old cable modem with a new Arris/Motorola DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem. The tech never mentioned any switch. The tech said that Charter had asked them to upgrade the modems. The house is in Hatteras Village, in Summerplace.

Could this change be only for new installs?

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I have no comparative date for you. I can only observe that the service/speed is as good as before in Salvo; ST swapped out the modem last fall. It might be better but I have no quantitative points of comparison.

BTW, did you mean to put this thread in the Politics section ??

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I have no comparative date for you. I can only observe that the service/speed is as good as before in Salvo; ST swapped out the modem last fall. It might be better but I have no quantitative points of comparison.

BTW, did you mean to put this thread in the Politics section ??

lol! It is "Lighter" reading than many threads of late.

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Thanks, everyone, The fact that y'all are mentioning still being connected to a "cable" modem tells me you haven't been migrated (Century Tel, as you probably know, is DSL).

Mikec, you might be correct in that this is for new installs only. While we are legacy Charter, we would be a new account for ST. The rep quoted install dates 4 - 6 weeks out.

Yep, I probably should have posted in the "main" section, but saw "local" and figured it wouldn't be buried in the "the what restaurants are open", "how's the weather" and countdown to vacation posts.

I guess, I would now ask if anyone is on Century and what kind of service levels are you seeing?

Thanks!

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The only input I have on Silicon is that within the last year I had two issues. In both cases they sent a tech to my house, one early the day after an placed an afternoon call and once within an hour! I was impressed.

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I use CenturyLink DSL on Ocracoke and it works fine. I subscribe to 10Mbps service and get close to that. Local consensus is that the service is superior to Belhaven Cable.

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A couple of things, first, the condo we rented in Slash Creek last year had CenturyLink, no issues other than the condo owner having an old WPA code in one place and the current WPA code somewhere else. That had me going for a bit but not CenturyLink's fault.

Regarding Silicon Travel and their service, in mid March we arrived at our friend's house for spring cleaning. I noticed no Internet or house phone. A quick call to Silicon Travel and they scheduled a service call for the next day, I called around 4:30PM. One of the power hits during the winter caused the router to go back to factory defaults.

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Agree they have superior customer service all around. That's why my company recommends them so highly. Nothing like telling a renter that they have no tv and charter will be out some time next week

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Figured I'd give an update - Century Tel guy (awesome individual) just came by the house.

He was brutally candid that while Century Tel up/down (I'm around 1.5/20 w Charter) won't be as fast now, it won't be subjected to the "everyone on line slow down" we typically see in peak summer.

So, we're getting provisioned for DSL (Century Link via ST) and will try it out when the ST guys can do the "inside the house" portion.

Like everything else, any technology upgrade investment is being held back until the bridge issue is resolved - can't lay new fiber until you know where you're going to run it....

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Figured I'd give an update - Century Tel guy (awesome individual) just came by the house.

He was brutally candid that while Century Tel up/down (I'm around 1.5/20 w Charter) won't be as fast now, it won't be subjected to the "everyone on line slow down" we typically see in peak summer.

So, we're getting provisioned for DSL (Century Link via ST) and will try it out when the ST guys can do the "inside the house" portion.

Like everything else, any technology upgrade investment is being held back until the bridge issue is resolved - can't lay new fiber until you know where you're going to run it....

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Like everything else, any technology upgrade investment is being held back until the bridge issue is resolved - can't lay new fiber until you know where you're going to run it....

The fiber is the cheap part, Charter would need to upgrade their HI infrastructure anyway according to several sources. Yes, "cheap" is a relative term.

Wonder if Charter has considered running new fiber under the sound, avoiding the bridge and the Inlet? After all, there are cables running across the Atlantic.

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The fiber is the cheap part,

Correct, but remember anywhere that fiber is placed will have to be thoroughly vetted/argued/litigated ad nauseam before the first inch is rolled off the spool...

Nothing is easy around here.

Also, sorry for the double post...jeez, I'm a tool

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I am planning a project where one option is to lay fiber underwater for just a few hundred feet in a lake. Turns out the fiber itself for any depth beyond 20'-25' is not trivial. Doing it across Oregon Inlet, with storms roaring through and dredging going on looks to me like a VERY problematic and risky proposition.

What most fail to appreciate is the access to repairs for any fixed cabling is a premium concern in any installation:
- overhead in a fixed utility right-of-way is easy
- underground is problematic but unless you have earthquakes of 'backhoe failures' the problems are relatively straight forward to handle and the equipment to do it is common
- suspended on a bridge or tunnel has its problems but is manageable
- underwater for any distance is a whole different ballgame and not easy due to the platforms and machinery to find and lift and perform repairs is rare

Underwater across Oregon Inlet is not an easy thing.

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We have ST in Corolla. Great service. Had to call them about something, and I was very pleased.

at the comments about Charter. After dealing with Charter down there, I'll never say another bad word about Comcast up here again.

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